Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Tim Kramer of Menominee chips the ball onto the Hole 3 green Tuesday during the final day of the 2020 Senior UPGA Championship at Terrace Bluff Golf Course in Gladstone. Kramer took the title after a sudden death playoff.

GLADSTONE — A 36-hole tournament turned into a 41-hole one here Tuesday in the conclusion of the 16th annual Senior Upper Peninsula Golf Association’s men’s tournament.

Tim Kramer of Menominee Riverside, the first-day leader, and Gladstone’s Joe Quinn — a 2014 UPGA champ — faced off in a rain-soaked and windy five-hole sudden-death playoff after tying for the top spot that ended with Kramer taking home the trophy for his first senior championship.

Stepping onto the 17th hole, Kramer sat two strokes behind Quinn who was sitting comfortably at 61, 2-under par.

Kramer birdied on the 17th and 18th holes to finish at 2-under 70 for the second day.

“I had to birdie 18 to get into the playoff, and I hit my best drive of the day,” Kramer said. “I hit a nice wedge (from 45 yards) into four or five feet (on the green) and made the putt to force the playoffs.”

It was just enough to match Quinn’s total despite finishing with a 3-under par 69 for the second day.

“I played fantastic today,” Quinn said. “With the conditions we were in out there, with the wind and the rain, shooting in the 60s is a great score. The weather didn’t affect me more than anyone else because I had a goal in mind. I wanted to win the U.P. championship, so I didn’t let it bother me. I stayed focused on what I was trying to do.

“Yes, it was (an exciting way to end it). He birdied the last two holes when he was down just to get into the playoff. That was huge. It was awesome, and he deserved it.”

Tied at 141 for the top spot, the two had to duke it out in a playoff match. Quinn had two chances to seal the victory on the green as the match progressed, but it wasn’t until the fifth hole when Kramer sank a short putt for par that the title was decided as Quinn’s final putt slipped past the hole to declare Kramer the winner.

“I had a lot of confidence going into today from yesterday,” Kramer said. “I didn’t make many putts, but I just felt if I could hit the ball as equally as good today, that the putts would fall.

“When you’re playing well things like (the weather) don’t really bother you. Weather is only an issue when your game’s a little off and you’re not playing well. When you’re dialed in and focused and your game is sharp, weather doesn’t even come into play.”

Kramer’s second day didn’t start well as putt troubles followed him from the first day and pushed him over par over the first eight holes.

“I was 3-over through eight today, and I struggled a little bit,” he said.

But it was the last 10 holes where he turned it around, immediately improving to 1-under after getting birdies on the next four holes.

“I made some birdies coming into the last 10 holes, started stroking the ball a bit and started making some putts, so that certainly helped,” Kramer said. “To close 6-under for the last 10 was certainly fortunate.”

While neither wanted to lose, both acknowledged losing to the other was something they could accept.

“Playing with Joe Quinn — Joe and I have been friends for a long time, and we’ve battled a lot. He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. It’s kind of bittersweet,” Kramer said. “You want to win — I mean every golfer comes here to win — but when you play against a guy like Joe, it’s not all that bad because you’re happy for a guy like Joe to win. And equally so – I just talked with Joe and he told me he’s happy to see me win, so that’s awesome.”

Quinn offered similar sentiments.

“Me and Tim are good friends,” he said. “We play a lot of golf together, and he’s a great guy. You can’t lose to a better guy.”

The new champion went on to praise the tournament and its organization.

“The course was set up awesome,” he said. “(Terrace) Bluff did an awesome job of making everything fair, making everything playable. The course was in great shape, and it was run very smoothly. (Course owner) Tony Pouliot and his crew did an amazing job here. I’ve heard nothing but great things about how the tournament was done, and I look forward to defending next year.”

2019 champion Mark Ray of the Highland and 2018 champion Scott Saari of Wawonowin tied for third with 147 along with Steve Douglas of Terrace Bluff.

Flight winners:

1st — Rick LaFleur, Terrace Bluff, (74-75) and Larry Bratonia, Gladstone, (75-74) 149

2nd — Ken Wilkie, Pickford, 148 (76-72)

3rd — Wes Stripling, River’s Edge, (79-73) and Brian Scheeneman, Highland, (80-72) 152

4th — Randy Eis, Escanaba, (81-75) and Steve Bratonia, Gladstone, (81-75) 156

5th — Steve Schmidt, Riverside, 156 (84-72)

6th — Jim Peltier, Escanaba, (86-81) and Paul Gayan, Escanaba, (86-81) 167

7th — Tom Chaperon, Nahma, 172 (89-83)

8th — Marty Kallio, Gladstone, 177 (90-87)

9th — Rick Soder, Newberry, 184 (93-91)